There is no doubt that Syria has been a thorn in the side of United States and Israel for steadfastly refusing to negotiate a compromise with Israel. Syrian leaders have insisted on complete and full withdrawal of Israeli forces and return of Golan Heights to Syria. Syria has also supported Hezbollah and Palestinians including Hamas for a free Palestine.
The recent Arab uprising seems to be sweeping across the entire Arab world and the old guard is falling one by one. Syria has been a relatively tranquil country in Bashar Al-Assad's time and the current uprising may well have a foreign hand in it. However, the reality is that Arab people have woken up and are no longer willing to accept dynastic leaders. They yearn for democracy and Syrian people are no different.
The Assad family has rules ruled Syria since 1966 without a democratic or a fair election. Forty five years is a long time for the population of a country to bear the rule of a father and son. Al-Jazeera reports that security personnel are carrying out house to house searches in various in Syria to grab opponents. This can only inflame the situation even further.
The best thing for Bashar Al-Assad to do is to immediately call for a fair and open election; both for Parliament and Presidency. Allow all political parties to participate and if Syrian people re-elect him in a fair election then he has the right to continue, otherwise he must step down and hand over power to elected representatives.
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